Thurl Ravenscroft: The Voice Behind the Grinch

Christmas Day may be a thing of the past for another year, but as my tree will be up until Epiphany, my radio tuned to Christmas classics until a few days after that, I still use this time of year to catch up on my Christmas movies and partake in some Christmastime trivia. Today’s ramble around IMDB and Wikipedia? How The Grinch Stole Christmas. For many years it was commonly thought that Boris Karloff was the singing voice in the Christmas classic. ‘Tis not so. We now of course know that the dulcet tones of Thurl Ravenscroft are what we crave at Christmastime. Think you’ve heard his voice before? If you’re a Disney geek then you probably have. Thurl’s voice is in many locations across the various parks:

In the Haunted Mansion he is the voice of Uncle Theodore, singing lead vocals amongst the busts at the end of the ride. That is in fact his likeness etched onto the bust, and not Walt Disney as can appear at first glance.

Not limited to the parks, Thurl’s voice can also be found on many Disney movies and shows. Thurl’s quartet, The Mellomen, were often invited by Walt to provide vocals for his projects, most notably the singing canines in Lady and the Tramp. The Mellomen were also featured in Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella.

Need a little something more than Disney trivia? Thurl also provided the voice effects for the goblins in the 1977 Rankin-Bass animated classic The Hobbit.

So after my Christmas movie season is over, I can start prepping for our trip to Walt Disney World in March by going on a movie to movie hunt for one of my favorite voice actors.

Sources: The Disney Insider, Wikipedia, IMDB

Born and bred in England, Sarah Pinault is a mother, writer, craft junkie, and a glutton for the written word.